History GuideDangIt / SimulationGames

* ''VideoGame/StarControl II'' had one unfortunate quest that fell into this. You are told to find and capture an extremely rare beast that can only be found on one planet ([[http://wiki.uqm.stack.nl/List_of_planets out of several thousand]]) in the game. The only clue is that it's found on a world with a yellow sun in the constellation of "the snakelike creature that has swallowed the elephantine beast". Someone with a thorough knowledge of constellations may realize that this refers to Lyncis, but anyone else is on their own (the constellations are not drawn on the map). Although the game is often obtuse with its hints, this is the only one that requires knowledge from outside the game itself to solve.

** Island of Happiness'' tweaked the farming system used in previous games. The new crop growing system uses set time intervals as minimum time required in each stage, and adds water and sunlight requirements that don't always correspond, and the weather gaining its own modifiers. Too little, and your crops will never grow. Too much, and they'll wither away. Those ranges are wide enough to avoid complete ruin unless the [[RandomNumberGod randgen hates you]], but if you want that ultimate turnip for the festival? You need to hit the absolute minimum to grow - too much sun and water will only reduce the quality. The precise requirements for each crop, or exactly how the weather affects them? All in the guide.

* In the AnimalCrossing series, finding every bug and fish is almost impossible without a guide, since all bugs and fish are catchable at specific dates and times, and you never know if you got all of them for a specific month (since some are very rare, and some fish shadows look a lot like other fish's shadows)

* The ''PrincessMaker'' games, and their Western sister series, ''CuteKnight'', generally have a number of normal endings that are fairly easy to get by playing the game normally, a handful of straightforward special endings ... then a few special endings that you're unlikely to figure out ''exist'' without looking them up in a guide, let alone figure out how to ''get'' them.

* ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe'' features about a dozen bonus moneymaking opportunities, none of which offer mission guidance.

** ''X3: Terran Conflict'' features about two dozen derelict ships floating around in various sectors that can be salvaged and either used or sold; finding them early greatly alleviates EarlyGameHell. Some of them are within Triplex Scanner range of a jumpgate, but others are unlikely to be found if you don't know where to look.
*** Also the Hub plot. Nobody in-universe tells you that you'll need to you'll need to prepare your trade empire ahead of time in order to finish this [[FetchQuest Fetch Plot]] in a reasonable amount of time.

** ''X3: Terran Conflict'' features about two dozen derelict ships floating around in various sectors that can be salvaged and either used or sold. Some of them are within Triplex Scanner range of a jumpgate, but others are unlikely to be found if you don't know where to look.

* Finding out how to do just about anything in VideoGame/DwarfFortress is a Guide Dang It. It doesn't help that the in-game manual is completely unhelpful. What DOES help is that there, is, in fact, a guide. The game's wiki essentially forms the instruction manual and tutorial. It's almost certainly required reading if you want to play the game properly.

* In the {{Animal Crossing}} series, finding every bug and fish is almost impossible without a guide, since all bugs and fish are catchable at specific dates and times, and you never know if you got all of them for a specific month (since some are very rare, and some fish shadows look a lot like other fish's shadows)

* Finding out how to do just about anything in DwarfFortress is a Guide Dang It. It doesn't help that the in-game manual is completely unhelpful. What DOES help is that there, is, in fact, a guide. The game's wiki essentially forms the instruction manual and tutorial. It's almost certainly required reading if you want to play the game properly.

* One of the biggest criticisms of the ''VideoGame/{{X}}'' series (particularly the later entries like ''X3: Reunion'' and ''X3: Terran Conflict'') is their near-vertical learning curve and poor (sometimes thoroughly erroneous) documentation. The in-game tutorial is, if anything, even worse: they teach you the broad strokes of how to fly and shoot, and that's about it. Thank God for the forums...

* Finding out how to play DwarfFortress IS a Guide Dang It in itself!

* One of the biggest criticisms of the ''VideoGame/{{X}}'' series (particularly the later entries like ''X3: Reunion'' and ''X3: Terran Conflict'') is their near-vertical learning curve and poor (sometimes thoroughly erroneous) documentation. The in-game tutorial is, if anything, even worse: they teach you the broad strokes of how to fly and shoot, and that's about it. Thank God for the forums...
* Older Than The Internet. Have you ever tried playing the original text-based adventure game? It's called Adventure, it invented the genre, and it's bloody difficulty to figure out.

* In ''Westward IV'' from Sandlot (yes, it's a series), to unlock the fourth crop type, you need to [[spoiler:irrigate and farm in a space that also includes a visible mine site, even though there is plenty of area that does not require irrigation. A farmer will eventually tell you that there are traces of peas, so you can then add variety to your radishes (the basic!), tomatoes, and corn.]] Talk about improbable actions!
* Victoria : An Empire Under the Sun is an incredibly complex game simulating political, social and diplomatic turmoils of the 19th and early 20th century. The player has to manage his country's production, taxation, tariffs, army, research, social composition, diplomatic situation, colonisation, industrialisation, all this through a clumsy and unclear interface. There is no tutorial and most releases are devoid of any manual whatsoever. To understand the game, the player has to rely on internet help or spend countless days (not hours) trying to work things out.

* One of the biggest criticisms of the ''VideoGame/{{X}}'' series (particularly the later entries like ''X3: Reunion'' and ''X3: Terran Conflict'') is their near-vertical learning curve and poor (sometimes thoroughly erroneous) documentation. The in-game tutorial is, if anything, even worse: they teach you the broad strokes of how to fly and shoot, and that's about it. Thank God for the forums...

* One of the biggest criticisms of the ''{{X}}'' series (particularly the later entries like ''X3: Reunion'' and ''X3: Terran Conflict'') is their near-vertical learning curve and poor (sometimes thoroughly erroneous) documentation. The in-game tutorial is, if anything, even worse: they teach you the broad strokes of how to fly and shoot, and that's about it. Thank God for the forums...

* The Beaclon in Monster Rancher 2 is THE KING of Guide Dang it. You remember all those rumors way back when about how to unlock Luigi in Super Mario 64? Well, the Beaclon is just as ridiculously specific, difficult, and impossible to figure out on your own as those rumors, except this time it's actually true! Here's how you do it: You need to have a worm. The worm must be 4 years old(itself a GuideDangIt) and must have a loyalty of at least 80(also a GuideDangIt). It must also be rank C or less(since Beaclon is a rank C monster IN THE CARD THAT YOURE NOT SUPPOSE TO HAVE AT THE TIME, thus making this count as a FridgeBrilliance as well). Also, you must only feed it cup jelly for its entire life and at least 30 time(if you fail at this, it will become Species/Worm monster), never spoil it, and must be stress free and completely rested at the time of the event. If all of these conditions are met, your worm will turn into a Beaclon during fourth week of June. But since 4 years is the maximum a monster usually lives, it won't live for much longer unless you raise it extremely well.
** Said game is so ridiculous that its possibly the most GuideDangIt game ever made ! The series as a whole is probably best summarized as a mess of GuideDangIt after GuideDangIt. Now imagine a game that is the peak of said GuideDangIt and youll get the idea

* Averted in "{{Playboy}}; The Mansion". The makers of the game were apparently well aware that there players would almost certainly immediately search on the internet for any cheat codes should any either exist or become necessary, so there's no cheat codes at all. Instead, as you build up points, you have the option to spend those points on either archive photos or on Cheats. These cheats, which you simply select at the expense of losing points, vary from giving a particular character better stats (increasing their physical, charm or intellect, or giving them personality traits such as "amorous", "chaste", "drinker", etc) to things like giving everyone giant heads or instantly giving all the women giant breast implants.

* The Beaclon in Monster Rancher 2 is THE KING of Guide Dang it. You remember all those rumors way back when about how to unlock Luigi in Super Mario 64? Well, the Beaclon is just as ridiculously specific, difficult, and impossible to figure out on your own as those rumors, except this time it's actually true! Here's how you do it: You need to have a worm. The worm must be 4 years old and must have a loyalty of at least 80. It must also be rank c or less, and must be completely rested. Also, you must only feed it cup jelly for its entire life, never spoil it, and must be stress free. If all of these conditions are met, your worm will turn into a beaclon. But since 4 years is the maximum a monster usually lives, it won't live for much longer unless you raise it extremely well.

* The Beaclon in Monster Rancher 2 is THE KING of Guide Dang it. You remember all those rumors way back when about how to unlock Luigi in Super Mario 64? Well, the Beaclon is just as ridiculously specific, difficult, and impossible to figure out on your own as those rumors, except this time it's actually true! Here's how you do it: You need to have a worm. The worm must be 4 years old and must have a loyalty of at least 80. It must also be rank c or less, and must be completely rested. Also, you must only feed it cup jelly for its entire life, never spoil it, and must be stress free. If all of these conditions are met, your worm will turn into a beaclon. But since 4 years is the maximum a monster usually lives, it won't live for much longer unless you raise it extremely well.

** Plus improving your situation in general and unlocking more features and locations requires friendship with just about everyone, and friendship means daily conversations. ''With everyone.'' Investing more than half of your play time in ThePowerOfFriendship is more critical to running your farm than being able to balance a budget, which can be a huge GuideDangIt to westerners unfamiliar with the series, as they languish for years accumulating small fortunes and never seeing half the island, or even half their potential farm.

** Plus improving your situation in general and unlocking more features and locations requires friendship with just about everyone, and friendship means daily conversations. ''With everyone.'' Investing more than half of your play time in ThePowerOfFriendship is more critical to running your farm than being able to balance a budget, which can be a huge GuideDangIt to westerners unfamiliar with the series.

** Plus improving your situation in general and unlocking more features and locations requires friendship with just about everyone, and friendship means daily conversations. '''With everyone.''' ThePowerOfFriendship is more critical to running your farm than being able to balance a budget, which can be a huge GuideDangIt to westerners unfamiliar with the series.

* Finding out how to play DwarfFortress IS a Guide Dang It in itself!

* Victoria : An Empire Under the Sun is an incredibly complex game simulating political, social and diplomatic turmoils of the 19th and early 20th century. The player has to manage his country's production, taxation, tariffs, army, research, social composition, diplomatic situation, colonisation, industrialisation, all this through a clumsy and unclear interface. There is no tutorial and most releases are devoid of any manual whatsoever. To understand the game, the player has to rely on internet help or spend countless days (not hours) trying to work things out.